I welcome the news that ordinary working families in Cheadle are set to benefit from a range of Government measures that have recently come into effect.

The tax-free personal allowance will rise for the seventh year to £11,500, benefitting over 42,000 people in Cheadle and meaning a typical basic rate taxpayer will pay a full £1,000 less income tax than in 2010.

As a result of our changes to the personal allowance and higher rate threshold, 3,290,000 people in North West England gain on average £186, and a total of 160,000 people will have been taken out of income tax altogether, compared to 2015-16.

In addition:

• The National Living Wage – which delivered a pay rise to a million people last year – has risen again to £7.50: an income boost of over £500 for a full time worker in Cheadle.
• The Government will provide up to £2,000 a year per child through the roll out of tax-free childcare, to help with childcare costs for families in Cheadle.
• Hard-pressed savers will get a boost, with access our new market-leading NS&I bond which will pay 2.2% on deposits up to £3,000.

We’ve come a long way in the last seven years – there are 2.8 million more people in work, unemployment is at its lowest for twelve years and we’ve cut income tax for over 30 million people. But there is more to do to help people locally and across the UK feel the benefits of the recovery, and make ends meet. By giving the lowest paid a wage boost, taking more people out of income tax, boosting savings and helping with the cost of childcare, we’re putting ordinary working people at the heart of our plan for Britain: to build a stronger, fairer economy that works for everyone.